Old South

Fraternities, Race & Reconciliation in a Southern Town

In Athens, Georgia, a college fraternity traditionally known to fly the Confederate flag moves to a historically black neighborhood and establishes their presence by staging an antebellum style parade. What starts with a neighborhood struggle over cultural legacies in the South, the opening of a community garden becomes a grounds for understanding, as well as a physical and emotional space for healing, offering a sense of possibility and hope for the future.

OLD SOUTH provides a window into the underlying dynamics of race relations that influence so many American communities.

Comments (1)

Catherine

Smith College•1 week ago

While the beginning of Old South seems to focus on the division between the white students and local community members—even the film’s title suggests a study of racial and class alienations perpetuating in the town of Athens—the majority of the documentary is actually far more concerned with ...Read more

While the beginning of Old South seems to focus on the division between the white students and local community members—even the film’s title suggests a study of racial and class alienations perpetuating in the town of Athens—the majority of the documentary is actually far more concerned with how to move away from these classic hierarchies of us versus them, instead exploring the methods the townspeople employ to accept the fate of their neighborhood and eliminate barriers between the two supposed sides. This is conducted through the community garden and historic local church, which serves as a means to incorporate the fraternity members into the neighborhood, instead of continuing to resist their invasion.

While most of the film highlights these efforts of inclusion and acceptance from both groups, there is a subtlety to how director Danielle Beverly does not try to hide the ignorance that persists from white community members (thus, making the actions of activists like Hope Iglehart, all the more commendable). Instances such as Mayor Heidi Davison’s rant about not being racist because she’s taught “very, very poor, poor black children” no matter “what they smelled like”, as well as one unnamed community member’s comment on the antebellum parade as a celebration of “a fine group of young men representing the Southern tradition” remind audiences of the hostile veins that still run in white southerners, while simultaneously recognizing the commendable actions of both parties in the film’s second half.

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